I read book 4, “Decayed Legacy”, way back on 4 February 2022! Yeah, it’s taken me this long to get back to this series, and I really can’t tell you why. I guess it just got lost in my “To Read” list, but now it’s back. This was a strange series to start because one of the characters happens to be a talking rifle! Yeah, it seems that our main character, Patrick Finnegan a.k.a “Wic”, or “Patrick-Wic”, found this alien rifle that just happened to have a resident AI. That AI decided that it was on the wrong side of a massive alien slave ring so it decided to start assisting Master Gunnery Sergeant (MGySgt) Patrick Finnegan on a permanent basis. The only problem with this is that the AI is something of a smart-aleck and doesn’t always pay attention to those things he should. That leads to problems that Wic has to solve himself.
Wic is not alone, far from it. He’s gathered a group of like-minded prior military that have now fought with him through the initial alien invasion of Earth. When those aliens showed up through some kind of space gate and started scooping up humans for their slave trade, Wic and his “Phantoms” got busy to stop them. Along the way, that were joined by a group of aliens known as the Androchidans, and led by a Major Insarka Kindesh. These were a rebel group of Androchidians that were opposed to their Queen’s slave trading. They had vowed to stop it one way or another, so both groups are after the same thing. The Blood Guard, as the Androchidian group is called, is lead by General Hadricko, who also happens to be Major Kindesh’s Father.
Having blown up the only apparent gateway back to Earth, the Phantoms have come to the realization that they can no longer return to their home planet. So, they vow to help Major Kindesh and her rebel group in their fight against a very evil Androchidian government and Queen. Their fight will start on the planet Karkin Four which is where they already blew up a massive slave processing operation. The Blood Guard HQ was on Karkin Four and has suffered heavy damage. While the Androchidan forces under the Queen had briefly occupied that HQ bunker, it has now been abandoned while the Androchidans under the Queen have returned to Androchida Prime.
So, Major Kindesh wants to know go to the HQ bunker and see what is left, if anything, that her Blood Guard or the Phantoms might be able to use. They are limited in supplies and support mostly resides on Androchidan Prime. They find the HQ bunker almost completely destroyed with large parts of it collapsed. It was built mostly underground and the ceiling have caved in from the bombing it took during the attack. Fortunately, most of the bodies have been removed and so has most everything else. Still, they conduct a thorough walk-through of the underground passages they can actually get through.
Then Wic notices a dead-end wall that seems to have a door built into it. He notices light leaking from a small slot in the bottom and only notices it when all the lights were out in the hallway leading to this supposed dead-end. They pound on the door or wall but it seems to be almost solid and doesn’t appear to be heard by anyone or anything on the other side. Then they do notice shadows from the light coming through the slit at the bottom. So they know that something or someone is on the other side. This wall or door hasn’t been moved in ages as far as they can tell and there’s no apparent way to open the door from their side.
Major Kindesh and Wic decide they need to see what’s on the other side of the door. They put Sir Chuck, the name for the weapon AI to work and also have built some small beetle-like robots that will definitely fit under the door. They send them on scouting missions as far as they can go. What they find startles everyone, especially Major Kindesh. It appears that an entire city of Androchidans have been sealed behind this door for who knows how long. They have carved out apartments, mess halls, dormitories and sick bays for a population of about two hundred Androchidans. They also notices that these are the Elite of the Androchidan army. They appear to be fanatics in their support/worship their Queen. There is also a huge ball suspended almost right in front of the wall/door and it’s hovering over a deep, dark pit. This appears to be some kind of teleportation device but no one is quite sure.
After the scouting information comes back, Wic and Major Kindesh are of the opinion they need to eradicate this group of fanatic Androchidans. They need to find out why they are living here and then destroy that teleportation device. And this is where the real story begins. Surprisingly, it’s going to involve children. No, there aren’t any children with the Phantoms or the Blood Guard, but there soon will be. There’s also going to be some massive battles even though the Phantoms and Blood Guard are not large in numbers, they will suffer some fatal casualties so unlike some stories, the good guys don’t always live through every battle. I found the fighting very intense.
The series continues in book 6, “Fire and Fury”, which is available on Amazon. I don’t think I’ll take four years to get this one read!
[Note 1 (12/23/2025): I’m no longer associated with Amazon and will no longer provide any links to books from that website. You can usually find books that you like at your usual source.]
[Note 2: As of 12/03/2023, this will not be posted on Amazon since I have been banned from posting reviews for some unknown reason. ]